Thirteenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC 13 2009, Hurghada, Egypt

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EFFECT OF IRRIGATION INTERVAL ON GROWTH

CHARACTERISTICS, PLANT WATER STRESS TOLERANCE AND
WATER USE EFFICIENCY FOR CHILE PEPPER
Saleh M. Ismail1* and Kiyoshi Ozawa2
1

Soil & Water Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt
E-mail: smiias@yahoo.com

Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Science (JIRCAS), Okinawa

Subtropical Station, Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, 907-0002 Japan

ABSTRACT
Container experiments were carried out to study the effect of irrigation interval on root
development, yield and water use efficiency for Chile pepper. Each containers has a
size of 31 x 15 x 60 cm with one transparent side for the visual view of the root
development. Sandy clay loam soil was packed in each container to a 50 cm height.
One seedling of Chile pepper (Takano tsu me) was transplanted in the middle of each
container on the 15th of February, 2005. Three irrigation intervals, (1, 3 and 5 day)
with four replications were investigated. The soil water content in each container was
kept at field capacity by compensating the loss in weight by adding water.
The results indicated that increasing the water supply caused increases in the root
biomass. The 1-day irrigation interval produced the highest root biomass while the 5day resulted in the least root biomass. The 3-day irrigation interval showed remarkable
roots development in the bottom of the containers, resulting in 12 % water saving
compared to other treatments. The increasing in the irrigation interval induced an
increase in the xylem water potential but it caused a reduction in leaf growth.
Generally, the proper irrigation interval increases the plant water stress tolerance by
developing the root in lower layers where high soil moisture content is present.
Keywords: irrigation interval Pepper root development

1. INTRODUCTION
In the arid and semi arid as well as sub-tropical regions, water shortage is a normal
phenomenon and seriously limits the agricultural potential. Therefore, under irrigation
or rain-fed conditions, it is important for the available water to be used in the most
efficient way. The proper irrigation interval can play a major role in increasing the
water use efficiency and the productivity by applying the required amount of water
when it is needed. On the other hand, the poor irrigation interval can lead to the
development of crop water deficit and result in a reduced yield due to water and
nutrient deficiency. Early in the season when plants are small, it is beneficial to
encourage the roots to explore as much of the soil profile as possible. This maximizes
nutrient uptake and stress tolerance later in the season. Hartz, (1999) showed that the

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Thirteenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC 13 2009, Hurghada, Egypt

best approach to early season irrigation is to began with a full soil profile to encourage
deep rooting by non routine watering instead of waiting until the 20% depletion of
available water to reach the appropriate monitoring depth. This means waiting from 5
to 7 days or longer between irrigations depending on the weather. Soil profile should
be filled with water at each irrigation. Frequent light irrigations result in plants with
shallow root systems that suffering from water stress even with short periods of water
deficit (Sanders, 1997). The soil in the early growth root zone during germination
process should be moist at the time of planting. So, irrigation should take place to wet
this zone. As the plant grows, a moist soil becomes necessary for proper root
development, because roots will not grow through a dry layer of a soil. A dry soil layer
produces a shallower rooting depth than is desirable (Wright, 2002). Leskovar (1998)
pointed out that irrigation method, rate, timing and interval may influence the physical
and chemical properties of the growing media and thereby, affecting root initiation,
elongation, branching, development and dry matter partitioning between roots and
shoots. Both root mass and length were reported to decrease significantly with water
stress (Snyman, 2004). Reduced root dry weight, basal root number, basal root
diameter and shoot growth were obtained from pepper transplants exposed to mild
drought stress when compared with well water seedlings (Leskovar and Cantliffe
1992). Chile pepper (Takano tsu me) is a very pungent variety; it is suitable for the
fresh market or dehydration; it has a good tolerance to diseases. Chile pepper is also a
high value cash crop in many countries of the world. The total world production of this
crop has been estimated to be 14 to15 million tons a year (Weiss, 2002). Chile pepper
is a good indicator for measuring water stress for several reasons: i) Hot pepper
planting is confined to warm and semi-arid countries where water is often a limiting
factor for production, ii) It is considered one of the most susceptible horticultural
plants to drought stress, and iii) it has a shallow root system (Dimitrov and
Ovtcharrow, 1995; Kang et al., 2001).
The objectives of this study are to i) show out the best irrigation interval which
maximizes root development, crop production and water use efficiency for chile
pepper, and ii) estimate the amount of water that can be saved at the early growth
stages of this plant

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1.

Irrigation Interval Experiment

A container experiment was carried out in a greenhouse situated at Japan International

Research Center for Agricultural Science (JIRCAS), Okinawa Subtropical Station,
Ishigaki, Japan to study the effect of irrigation interval on root development, growth
characteristics, plant water stress tolerance and water use efficiency for chile pepper.
The container size was 31 x 15 x 60 cm with one transparent side for the visual view
of the root development. A container with this size makes the obtained results are
comparable to the field data because it enables the plants to grow in an area similar to
that of the actual field. Moreover, the soil depth inside each container is 50 cm which
is considered a suitable for most plants; especially those have small root depth like

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547

chile pepper. In addition, growing the plants in containers enables to collect all plant
roots after washing the soil by water. Sandy clay loam soil taken from the surrounding
area with bulk density of 1.5 g/cm3 mixed with CaCO3 and Phosphorus fertilizers
were packed in each container to 50 cm height. One seedling of chile pepper (Takano
tsu me) was transplanted in the middle of each container on the 15th of February, 2005.
Three irrigation intervals, (1, 3 and 5 day) with four replications were investigated.
These irrigation intervals are frequently used by farmers under drip irrigation system
in open fields of the surrounding areas. Before starting the treatments, the containers
were saturated with water and then, they were kept at the field capacity during the
growth period. The development of roots was observed from the transparent side of the
container. The plants received the last watering on March 24 to adjust the water
content of all treatments to the field capacity, and then the soil surface was covered by
transparent plastic mulch to prevent evaporation in order to study the effect of root
development on the plant water stress tolerance. The leaf area index was measured
every two days for all treatments. When the water stress symptoms appeared on the
plants, xylem water potential was determined from two fully exposed mature leaves
per plant. The measurements were made at 1:00 pm for the last 5 consecutive days
before harvest using a Scholander pressure chamber. It was difficult to measure the
xylem water potential along the growth period of the experiment because two matured
leaves must be killed every day for collecting the measurements.
The weight of the aboveground biomass was recorded after drying at 70 C. The roots
for each 10 cm depth were collected separately and washed and weighted after drying
at 70 C to study the roots mass over depth for each irrigation interval. Analyzing the
results of the conducted experiment revealed that 3 day irrigation interval was the best
due to the developed roots at the bottom of the container (40-50 cm depth). To confirm
our obtained results, another experiment was conducted aimed to restrict the horizontal
root growth for certain depths, while the vertical root growth was unrestricted to show
whether the enhancement at the 3 day irrigation interval was due to the developed
roots in lower soil layers or not.

2.2.

Root Restriction Experiment

Another experiment was carried out in the same containers explained previously with
the same lay-out except for the treatments. Three different lengths, (10, 20 and 40 cm)
of PVC pipe with a diameter of 14 cm were installed in the containers to constitute
three horizontal root restriction treatments with three replications. Chile seedlings
were transplanted on July 1st in the middle of the pipes. The root growth was restricted
within the pipe in the upper 10 cm of container for the first treatment (T10), the upper
20 cm depth for the second treatment (T20) and the upper 40 cm depth for the third
treatment (T40). The containers were kept at the field capacity during the growth
period by compensating the loss in weight by adding water every three days. The
irrigation water was added on the soil surface to maintain homogeneously distributed
inside and outside the pipes. Shoot weight was recorded after the drying at 70 C. The
roots in each 10 cm depth were also collected separately, washed and weighted after
drying at 70 C. Collecting and recording the yield three times with 10 days interval

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Thirteenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC 13 2009, Hurghada, Egypt

during the growth period and analyzing the total green chile pepper per plant were also
preformed. The plants were harvested on October 3rd after the roots reached to the
bottom of the containers. The data were analyzed by statisica software program
(StatSoft Inc, 1995). Treatment means were compared using the LSD test at P < 0.05

3. RESULTS
3.1.

Irrigation Frequency Experiment

3.1.1. Shoot and Root Dry Weights

Root and Shoot DW g/plant

The average shoot and root dry weights as influenced by irrigation intervals are
illustrated in Figure 1. The results indicated that the highest shoot dry weight was
obtained using 3-day followed by 1 and 5 day irrigation interval, although the
differences between treatments were not significant. The least root dry weight was
recorded from 5 day irrigation interval while no differences were found between 1 and
3 days irrigation intervals.

25

Total RDW
Total Shoot DW (NS)

20
15
10
5

0
1-day

3-days
5-days
Irrigation interval

Figure1: Effect of irrigation interval on root and shoot dry weights (Means with
different superscripts differ significantly (P<0.05) while NS is not significant)

The distribution of root dry weight ratio over 0-50 cm soil depth in relation to the total
root dry weight revealed that 50 % to 60 % of the roots dry weight were found in the
0-10 cm layer for all irrigation intervals (Fig. 2). Increasing the irrigation interval
decreased root ratios in this layer. The highest root ratio was obtained from 1-day
followed by 3 and 5 days irrigation interval. On the contrary, the root ratios in 20-30,
30-40 and 40-50 cm depth were significantly increased with increasing the irrigation
interval except for 40-50 cm depth where the highest root ratio was obtained from 3day irrigation interval.

Root ratio (%)

Thirteenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC 13 2009, Hurghada, Egypt

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

b
b

1-day
3-days
5-days
NS

0-10

549

a a

10. -20 20-30

aa b

ab

30-40

40-50

Soil depth (cm)

Figure 2: Root ratio distribution at 50 cm soil depth relative to total root dry weight
under different irrigation intervals (Means with different superscripts differ
significantly (P<0.05) while NS is not significant)

3.1.2. Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Change in LAI

The results of LAI and the change in LAI are shown in Figure 3. The results indicated
that no significant differences were found in LAI between 1 and 3 day irrigation
intervals while 5-day interval had the lowest LAI (Fig. 3a). At the last 10 days of the
experiment, the LAI of the 5-day irrigation interval increased rapidly compared to
other two intervals. The highest increase in the change of LAI during the last 10 days
was obtained from the 5-day followed by 1 and 3 day irrigation interval, (Fig. 3b).

Leaf area index

16
1-day
3-days
5-days

12
8

4
0

Change in LAI

8
6
4

2
0
0

10
20
Time after irrigtion stopped (day)

30

Figure 3: Leaf area index (LAI) and change in LAI after irrigation stopped

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Thirteenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC 13 2009, Hurghada, Egypt

3.1.3. Xylem water potential and soil water content

Xylem water pot. (MPa)

The xylem water potential result is shown in Figure 4. The results revealed that the
highest xylem water potential was for the 5-day irrigation interval while the xylem
water potential for 1 and 3 day intervals was same. The soil water content measured
on the harvest day was higher for 5-day than for 1 or 3 day irrigation interval while no
differences was found between 1 and 3 day irrigation interval (Fig. 5).

0.0
-0.5
-1.0
-1.5
-2.0
-2.5
-3.0
-3.5

1-day
3-days
5-days

25

26
27
28
29
30
Time after irrigation stopped (day)

Figure 4: Xylem water potential in chile pepper after irrigation stopped

Water cont. (Vol%)

10
WC at Harvest
9
8
7
6
1-day

3-days
Treatments

5-days

Figure 5: Soil water content measured on harvest day for different irrigation intervals

3.1.4. Water consumption and water use efficiency

Increasing the irrigation interval reduced plant water consumption. However, the
reduction in water consumption was not significant (Fig. 6a). The amount of water
used to produce 1 g of chile pepper dry matter as influenced by the irrigation intervals
is illustrated in Figure 6b. The lower the amount of water use, the higher the water use
efficiency. The highest water use efficiency was obtained from the 3-day irrigation
interval while no significant differences were found between 1 and 5 day irrigation
interval.

Water Use effic. (L/g DM)

Water consumption (L/Plant)

Thirteenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC 13 2009, Hurghada, Egypt

4.0

551

NS

3.0

2.0

1.0
0.20

ab

0.15
0.10
B
0.05
0.00
1-day

3-days
5-days
Treatments

Figure 6: Effect of irrigation interval on water consumption (A) and water use efficiency
(B) (Means with different superscripts differ significantly
(P<0.05) while NS is not significant)

3.2.

Root restriction experiment

The results of irrigation frequency experiment explained previously revealed some

improvement in shoot dry weight and water use efficiency for the 3-day irrigation
interval compared to the other intervals. These enhancements may be attributed to the
high root ratio in the 40-50 cm soil layer (Fig. 2). To confirm our results and
expectation, the root restriction was carried-out to restrict the horizontal root
development for certain depths, while encouraging the vertical root development. The
obtained results will be discussed as follow:

3.2.1. Root and shoot dry weights

The results of root and shoot dry weights are shown in Figure 7. The highest root dry
weight was recorded in T40 followed by T10 and T20 although there were no
significant differences between T10 and T20. The highest shoot dry weight was
obtained in T40 while the least one was in T10 (Fig 7a). Increasing the restriction
depth resulted in increases in the root dry weight inside the pipes. The highest root dry
weight inside the pipes was recorded in T40 followed by T20 and T10. However, the
development of the root outside of the restricted depth followed an opposite order.
The highest root dry weight outside of the pipes was recorded in T10 while no
significant differences were recorded between T20 and T40 (Fig. 7b). The results of
root dry matter distribution in 0-50 cm depth revealed that there was a significant

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Thirteenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC 13 2009, Hurghada, Egypt

Shoot and Root DW (g/plant)

40

Root dry weight (g/plant)

differences distribution between the treatments in 0-10 and 40-50 cm layers, (Fig. 8).
The highest root dry weight was recorded in T40 followed by T10 and T20 for both
layers. The other layers (10-20, 20-30 and 30-40 cm depth) did not show any
significant difference between treatments.

12

32

Total RDW
Total Shoot DW

24

A
d

16
a

0
RDW inside
RDW outside

a
a

Limited
to 10 cm
depth

b
Limited
to 40 cm
depth

Limited
to 20 cm
depth

Treatments

Figure 7: Effect of root restriction on root and shoot dry weights, inside and outside root
dry weights (Means with different superscripts differ significantly (P<0.05) while
NS is not significant)

Root dry weight (g/plant)

5
4

Limited to 10 cm depth
Limited to 20 cm depth
Limited to 40 cm depth

a
a

3
NS

2
1

NS

NS

0
0-10

10.-20
20-30
30-40
Soil depth (cm)

c
b

40-50

Figure 8: Root dry weights distribution at 50 cm soil depth under different degrees of
root restriction (Means with different superscripts differ significantly (P<0.05)
while NS is not significant)

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553

3.2.2. Yield, water consumption and water use efficiency

The results of green chile pepper fruit shown in Figure 9 revealed that there was a
significant difference between treatments. The highest fruit yield was measured in T40
followed by T20 and T10. The highest water consumption was used by T40 while, the
differences between this treatment and other ones were not significant (Fig. 10a).
Significant differences in water use efficiency (the amount of water used to produce 1
g of green chile pepper) were found between treatments (Fig. 10b). The least water use
efficiency was recorded in T10 while for T20 and T40 they were similar.
b

60

45
a

30
15

Limited
to 40 cm
depth

Limited
to 20 cm
depth

Limited
to 10 cm
depth

Yield (g/plant)

75

Treatments

35
28

NS

21
14

7
0
1.0

0.8
0.6

0.4

Limited
to 20 cm
depth

0.0

Limited
to 40 cm
depth

0.2
Limited
to 10 cm
depth

Water use effic. (L/g yield)

Water consumption (L/Plant)

Figure 9: Effect of root restriction on chile pepper yield (Means with different
superscripts differ significantly (P<0.05) while NS is not significant)

Treatments

Figure 10: Effect of root restriction on water consumption and water use efficiency
(Means with different superscripts differ significantly (P<0.05) while NS is not
significant) (P<0.05) while NS is not significant)

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Thirteenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC 13 2009, Hurghada, Egypt

4. DISCUSSION
4.1.

Root development

Water stressed plants generally exhibit a small root system configuration and the
reduction in root system size is directly proportional to the magnitude of water
shortage as indicated by the result presented in Figure 1, in which increasing the
irrigation interval causes a decrease in the root dry weight because the pattern of root
distribution was similar to that of the moisture distribution (Levin et al., 1979; Kramer
1995). A similar trend was confirmed from the result of root restriction experiment
(Fig. 7) where the highest root dry weight obtained from T40, which consumed the
highest amount of irrigation water (Fig. 10a). Decreasing the root system due to water
stress leads to a decrease in shoot dry weight (Figs 1 and 7) because the maintenance
of a proper balance between them is required; if either is too limited or too great in
extent, the other will not thrive. The roots grew rapidly downward (40-50 cm depth in
3 and 5 days treatments) to a high soil moisture content resulting in a higher root ratio
than for the 1-day interval (Fig. 2). Water stress alters the root system structure by
promoting the production of long lateral roots that emerged from the basal portion of
the taproot and thus making the direction elongation of these lateral roots more
downward (Wright, 2002).

4.2.

Leaf area, soil water content and xylem water potential

The differences in LAI (Fig. 3a) were due to the root development and/or the water
stress conditions. During the first two weeks after watering is stopped, the LAI was
higher in the treatments of 1 and 3 day irrigation interval than in 5-day interval due to
root development because increasing the root development increased the leaf growth
and consequently leaf area. Similar results declared by Ismail and Davies (1998) who
found that the root restriction reduces the leaf growth. During the last 10 days of the
experiment the water stress become sever, so that the change in LAI increased slowly
in 1 and 3 day irrigation intervals while increased rapidly in the 5-day irrigation
interval (Fig. 3b). The results were due to the high soil water content in the 5-day
irrigation interval (Fig. 5), which relieved water stress effects and increased LAI
compared to 1 and 3 day intervals.
Xylem water potential varied with water supply and therefore, it may be quite effective
to monitor moisture stress in plants (Katerji et al., 1987). The results presented in
Figure 4 indicated that the highest xylem water potential was for the 5-day irrigation
interval, which also had the highest soil water content (Fig. 5). Increasing the soil
water stress decreases leaf water potential. Using the 5-day irrigation interval the
plants were adopted to grow under water stress conditions and to consumed less water
resulting in a higher soil water content and higher plant water stress tolerance
compared to 1 or 3 day irrigation interval.

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4.3.

555

Water use efficiency

The higher water use efficiency in root container experiment was obtained from 5 and
3 days irrigation intervals. The water use efficiency obtained from the amount of water
used to produce 1 g of dry matter. The 3-day irrigation interval for chile pepper saves
6 % and 12 % of irrigation water compared to 1 and 5 day intervals, respectively. In
root restriction experiment, the water use efficiency obtained from the amount of water
used to produce 1 g of green chile pepper fruit. The T20 and T40 treatments had
similar results and each one saved about 45 % of irrigation water compared to T10
treatment.

5. CONCLUSIONS
Increasing the irrigation interval causes decreases in both shoot and root dry weights.
The proper irrigation interval saves more water at the early growing stage of the
plants. High water use efficiency was obtained from the 3-day irrigation interval
compared to the other irrigation intervals. The highest shoot dry weights, root dry
weights, root biomass at the bottom of the containers, yield and water use efficiency
were obtained from the (T40) treatment. In conclusion, the proper irrigation interval
which encourages root development in lower soil layers at the early growth stages is a
practical tool to increase water use efficiency and to save more water.

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Thirteenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC 13 2009, Hurghada, Egypt

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